Sat Nav Update Misery

[Mike_Wazawski]

My Octavia is 3 years old.
I have downloaded the 'latest' navigation update and used the downloaded (Skoda) software to unpack the data on to a variety of SD cards.
I have also unpacked the data using various unzipping software.
When I place the card into DC card slot II (Card 1 contains the Skoda sat nav SD card), I then select UPDATE from the menu and I get a message "Searching for soft updates", and I wait, and wait, and wait.
On one occasion, 90 minutes whilst I was out and about driving. Still "Searching".

On the occasions I needed to switch the engine off, I restart the update (and the waiting) until, on the third of fourth try when the message "Insert valid SD cards", or similar and I have to rewrite the entire card as a validation scan says there is NO difference to the DATA.
I have tried this with the card protected and not, with the sat nav card protected and not.
I am also told to use the original satnav SD card, copy the data then reform the card, which destroys any special features such as boot flags etc so I am NOT about to write over the original card.

My local Skoda dealership won't do the update saying it's not down to them.
Contacting Skoda just gets ignored.

I have been told (and seen on THIS forum), many (many) methods of unzipping, size of SD cards, NTFS, FAT32 and I am using a windows 7 machine.

As a programmer myself, I am appalled that the update process fails without telling me why.
No progress bar, Nothing.
As it takes an age to unzip and write the data to an SD card I am suffering a severe sense of humour failure especially when I come across roads that have changed a lot, like the M11/A14/M6 interchanges.

Either the update software works, or it doesn't.
Is there any help that does not suggest using the original card, using a different format, waiting longer than 90 minutes (keeping the system powered for that long without the engine is tricky, or. using SD slot 1 or a different computer or a different unzipping package as I have tried them all.

Technology should not be this hard.
Some software writers need a kick up the backside.. This is SO unprofessional.

Edited 2 August, 2018 by Mike_Wazawski
spelling errors

[BOD20]

The first thing to do is to establish which Satnav you have. This can be more difficult than it would seem because it may not actually say anywhere !

 

Is it a Columbus or Amundsen. And, if it's an Amundsen, is it an MIB1 or MIB2 ?

 

A description (photo ?) of the screen size and exactly what is in the glove box (does it have a DVD slot in the glove box, or not ?) should help identify it to people on here.

 

Once you know which one you have, disregard instructions for ALL other Satnavs - the update procedure is different for each one - and look for information on only your device.

 

Mine is an Amundsen MIB2 (no DVD slot in the glove box) so I only know the details of how to update that particular model.

[bigade1]

Unfortunately Mike - assuming your unit is the same as mine ( Amundsen MIB2 ) - the only way to use a new map is to use the original Skoda sd card. Back up the data on it to your pc, reformat it and then copy the new extracted map on to it. Apparently the Skoda sd card contains hidden security features to enable it to work with your unit. Any other sd card will not work ( except for the Columbus units ) and this is why your unit is not recognising your card and " searching for software updates ".

Edited 2 August, 2018 by bigade1

[Mike_Wazawski]

Thanks BigAde.
I will have to bite the bullet but it does worry me formatting the original card.
Reformatting a bootable USB stick removes the "Bootable" options and I assumed the SD card was the same, though there is no booting.

I have the tools to perform a bit image of media... Maybe I shall make a proper backup as I have had my fair share of "bricked" kit that fails an update process.

I assume that a new SD card from Skoda is achievable IF the formatting messes with these special features...
Maybe this hassle is why my dealership won't update the satnav for me.
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
Much appreciated.

[Mike_Wazawski]

Thanks Bod20.

No DVD slot but two SD card slots.
I suspect I have the model you suggest.

What annoys me is that in my life, I have developed several products and they ALL update in the same way and detect the wrong update.
Clearly, Skoda regard their satnavs devices as disposable and largely incompatible.. I would not stand for that attitude in my company.

I have been advised to use the main Skoda SD card.
You'd think that the device would see that slot 1 has a valid card and update from slot 2,
What's the point of slot 2 anyway...

Edited 2 August, 2018 by Mike_Wazawski
missing word

[BOD20]

The SD card isn't bootable and it doesn't contain the program for the Satnav - only the actual map data.

 

SD Cards have a "hidden" secure part which vendors can use to store identity data. This hidden part is NOT overwritten when you format the card and cannot normally be seen at all. But it's what the Satnav uses to validate the SD card as a genuine Skoda card and is the reason that no other SD Card works - because other cards don't have the necessary data in the hidden part of the card.

 

One more check you can do is the get the capacity of the Skoda SD card. When you look at it in Windows a Amundsen MIB2 card will have a storage capacity of 14.8 GBytes. If you explore the contents you'll see a "maps" folder and a file that ends with".md5sum.txt".

 

Is that what you see ?

[BOD20]

If, and only if, you have an Amundsen MIB2 Satnav, with a 14.8 GByte SD Card, then the procedure to update it with the 2018/2019 maps is as follows - 

 

Download link   http://infotainment-cdn.skoda-auto.com/base/maps/STD2_1030_EU1_201819.zip  

 

This is a big file - almost 13 GBytes in size.

 

 

1.    Download the latest map data from the link above  (note that this may take an hour or more to complete, depending on your broadband speed)
 

2.    Unzip (right-click on file and select "Extract All" ) the downloaded file to a new folder on your PC. This may take 15-30 minutes. After unzipping the folder should contain a “maps” folder and a TXT document with “md5sum.txt” in the filename.
 

3.    Connect the SD card to the computer
 

4.    For peace of mind, copy the entire contents of the SD card to another new folder (e.g. “OldMaps) on your PC
 

5.    Slide the small lock tab on the SD card to the “unlock” position to enable writing to the card
 

6.    On the PC, right-click the SD card icon and select “Format”
 

7.    Format the card using “FAT32” and the default “4096 bytes” allocation unit size
 

8.    Now copy the new satnav data from the folder at Step 2 (i.e. copy the “maps” folder and the “md5sum.txt” file) to the newly formatted SD card. This can take another 20-30 minutes to complete.
 

9.    Once complete, when you open the SD card on the PC you should see only a “maps” folder and the “……md5sum.txt” file.
 

10.  Remove the SD card from the PC and slide the lock tab to lock the card.
 

11.  Put the SD card back into the Amundsen unit and switch on.

 

 

You don't need to do anything on the Satnav itself. It will start up then load the new data automatically from the SD Card.

[Mike_Wazawski]

I have not placed the Skoda card in my PC yet, Young Bod20...
I am aware of the MD5 checksum.
It's late and I don't have the energy to do the work now so I will try it on the morrow after I have shown the card to some of my "interesting" software that supposedly accesses the entire media.
Thanks for your time. Much appreciated.
I just need to learn to accept the way it is and not complain about it...

Of course......
I am actually replacing the data on the card, not updating any firmware in the unit so once I have written the data, THAT then becomes the sat nav SD card.
I assume I still need to "UPDATE" from the menu.
In MY world, the system should recognise new data and auto update but that's me...
I've only been programming for 30+ years... and find a lot of modern kit unintuitive...

[Mike_Wazawski]

Thanks again, Bod20.
I will redo the entire process as I cannot locate my original zip file (I renamed it).
I will advise of my progress in due course...

[DC79]

If you’re worried about formatting the card, just delete the ‘maps’ folder then replace it by unzipping the new download. It probably takes longer to delete the folder than to format the card but you don’t have to format it.

[silverden]

4 minutes ago, DC79 said:

If you’re worried about formatting the card, just delete the ‘maps’ folder then replace it by unzipping the new download. It probably takes longer to delete the folder than to format the card but you don’t have to format it.

 

I can confirm that there's no need to format the card really.  I've updated my maps a couple of times and each time I've just copied the contents of the card to another folder as a backup.  Then just deleted the the maps folder and the text file and downloaded the new data onto the card and it works fine.

[BNT1985]

If it helps; I had a few issues getting the car to read the downloaded maps.

 

The only thing I changed was this; when I download the file - download the file wherever you want on the PC, but unzip the file directly to the SD.

 

I tried unzipping and copying the data over (as its quicker), Amundsen MIB2 Satnav really didn't like that. 

 

Took me a while to figure it out but unzipping the file directly to the SD card as the destination worked and has done ever since. 

Popped it in the SD slot and bingo.

[Rustynuts]

Reformatting the card will not (absolutely will not) remove the data required by your sat nav to allow the card to work.

You do not need to "Update" the unit with the new data on the SD card. It reads the data as required off the SD card and is not installed on the unit.

 

If you've copied the downloaded, unzipped data to the original card, just put it in the unit and that is it. Nothing more to do other than just use it.

[BOD20]

27 minutes ago, Mike_Wazawski said:

I assume I still need to "UPDATE" from the menu.
 

 

Nope, no action is required on the Satnav itself.

 

From that, I assume that the data is read "live" from the SD card as the Satnav is used. So all you have done is change the data being read.

 

And yes, it is correct that you don't actually need to re-format the card - deleting it's entire contents will achieve the same but probably takes the same amount of time.

 

I've updated my Satnav twice now. Once via the Skoda website and once manually, exactly as described above. The Skoda website procedure was partially automated but it did all the same things as the manual procedure - and Skoda included instructions on formatting the SD card. I can see that they'll have done this as a way to ensure the card is empty- if it's not empty then there won't be enough space on the card for the new data and the procedure would fail.

[BOD20]

35 minutes ago, Mike_Wazawski said:

Young Bod20...

 

Oh, and not so much of the "young", please, lol.

 

I used to program in Pascal and C++ from the eighties onwards so we're maybe not so far apart in years !! But yes, it's not as intuitive as it could be

 

[Mike_Wazawski]

Thanks DC79.
Just looking at my disk imaging software as I type.

[Mike_Wazawski]

Thanks to everyone who has responded..

I will post the result in a day or so...

[pist0nbr0ke]

Two things on MIB2 Amundsen:

 

• There are two entirely different 'updates' that regularly get confused, software and maps. I've updated my maps several times now with no hassle whatsoever, never tried the software. Maps absolutely need to go on genuine Skoda card. No idea re software but don't think the same applies. Could it be that you are attempting to update the software using the maps process? Map updates usually only take seconds to load when you pop the updated SD card back in 

 

• The second SD card slot is for music files, as there is no longer a CD slot

 

HTH

[SWBoy]

14 hours ago, BOD20 said:

 

Oh, and not so much of the "young", please, lol.

 

I used to program in Pascal and C++ from the eighties onwards so we're maybe not so far apart in years !! But yes, it's not as intuitive as it could be

That definitely makes you "young" - I used to program ICL1900 series mainframes in ALGOL 60, ALGOL 68R, FORTRAN and COBOL using punched cards in the early and mid 1970's - before moving onto assembly language and C in the late 1970's.

[Mike_Wazawski]

This is really off topic (I am extracting files to the original skoda SD card), but, at 65 now, I used to program in fortran at college when the computer was as large as a small room.
I then found (later) the superboard II and 6502 assembler, I wrote many 5602 bases utilities for extreacting image date from digital image storage systens such as the Quantel paintbox during my career at the BBC and ITN.
Ignoring C and higher languages for my entire programming life, I then created a clay Counting system (Claymate) for shooting grounds, using Microchip PIC's, all written in MPLAB and assembler. (That bought my house several times over).
I use C for atmel using Atmel studio, and C# for the few windows application I have written.
I like to THINK, my forte was the man-machine interface and my competitors copied my LCD display line for line for one particular shooting discipline (5-stand) and you know what they say about imitation being the sincerest form of flattery.

With all the megabytes of code written for modern devices, I wonder why the few text bytes required to inform the user of progress or failure and the reason why are so reviled.
MUCH of my own code was error detection and recovery because I wrote every single line in assembler.
Using C libraries a to get to market in zero time is OK but I know from experience that you can test and test code, release it and within a day, someone has found a bug.
The key to robust code is error handling and safe recovery.
The users of driverless cars and fly by wire aircraft know all about this. (Don't get me started on European vs USA fly by wire methodology).

Apologies for the rant... I's good to meet programmers and exchange stuff, as we do.

I have a sheet of hilarious Pseudo Op Codes for processors.
The funniest and most subtle being PSP "Push Stack Pointer".... Enjoy.

 

1 hour 15 minutes into extraction... about 30% of the way... ZZzzzzzzz........

[Mike_Wazawski]

Nearly 3 hours to extract to SD card.. jeezo.
Now, more than 2GB free on the card... I wonder why there is now more space than before...
Plugging into the car now.....
Lets see.............

[Mike_Wazawski]

Well, that was what I feared... What a complete balls up.
The MAPS are fine but now, ALL my stored destinations say "check Address" because ALL my destinations that I set as a post code have, as the old system required, a SPACE between the groups, so, B49 5HN which DID work, now doesn't so I need to find the post codes of ALL my destinations now and input new postcodes without the space.
So B495HN is now valid when previously, it wasn't.

Destinations stored as "Store current position" still work. That's 2 locations I can leave alone.. Whoopee.
When inputting the post code, the "Space" option is removed.

It seems like I have updated the operating system as well as the maps.

One local route, 3 miles before, is now a 15 mile loop... WTF !!!

What a complete and utter, utter, utter, waste of time.
In any text string, you can selectively ignore spaces.
This is almost as bad as a microsoft update that breaks your computer.
What numpty at Skoda though THIS was a good idea?

[Greenie58]

Wow I’m dreading updating mine, what a pile of sh....

[Mike_Wazawski]

It wouldn't be so bad IF there was an option to edit or export the post codes and then re import them without the space..
This is what annoys me with modern kit. There's no one with half a brain asking "What if....."
Even more annoying is that, once entered, you cannot see the post code you just entered.
As the option to include a space in the post code is removed from the System, someone MUST have to take some responsibility.
No doubt, Skoda will be silent in this regard.. Typical corporate tactics... let the user groups and forums do their work for them....

[Greenie58]

I’ll stick with my Garmin, it’s far better visually and gives me speed camera warnings.

To update I go to the Garmin website plug in and select update, that’s it.

Love the rest of the car though.

 

 

 

Edited 3 August, 2018 by Greenie58